Faith

I know that I have probably written about this before, but it is on my mind tonight. So please bear with me as I explore this again. What is faith? There are probably many definitions, but I want to stick with this tonight. I believe that when it boils down to the simplest form, faith is believing something when everything and everybody else is telling you it’s wrong. For example in flying you have to learn to trust in your instruments. When you are learning to fly, you first learn to fly by the “seat of your pants”. By that I mean you learn to fly in clear weather and looking outside. You learn to land and takeoff, even do some acrobatics while just looking outside. This is very good as long as it’s clear and there are no clouds. But if you put in a layer of clouds, or take away the sun and make it night, then you have problems.

As a pilot you get used to looking out at the horizon in a clear day. When you see a cloudbank, especially in the twilight or reduced visibility sometimes it will confuse you and you think you are turning when you are not. Then you correct for the turn that you are not making and pretty soon you wind up totally messed up. If you don’t recover you will crash. That’s what vertigo does to you. Many pilots have lost their lives because of vertigo. So how do we fly and not crash? We learn how to fly on instruments. Before you are cleared to fly in clouds or at night you have to learn how to fly on instruments. The way you do that is to fly in a simulator or in an airplane with “blinders” on. Blinders keep you from looking outside. So by continuing to practice flying on the instruments a couple of things happen. First, you learn what the instruments do and how they work. The more you practice, the better you can fly on them. Secondly, but perhaps just as important, you learn to trust your instruments. By practicing with them so much, you realize that they are telling you the truth. You build faith in the instruments.

As you continue to practice you get to actually fly in weather with the instruments and you realize that they really do what you have been told they would do. You fly more and more, finally you are either in charge of the airplane or flying solo. You might be new, or maybe you have been flying for a long time. Sooner or later it happens to everybody. You are flying along and you are looking outside. Everything feels normal. You think you are flying straight and level, you are straight and level according to what you see on the horizon and how you feel in the “seat of your pants” but then you look down at your instruments and they show that you are in a turn and descending. Everything in you body screams at you , don’t believe them, you are flying straight and level. This is the moment of truth. What are you going to do? Do you believe your senses or do you trust the instruments? In reality you have vertigo and you will crash if you don’t trust your instruments. You have to have faith.

This is my definition of faith. I choose to believe that which I know to be true even when everything in my senses is screaming not to believe. No, I haven’t seen Jesus face to face, but I have seen the results of His ministry. I have practiced believing in Him in the clear weather when things are easy. So when things are hard and my spirit is in vertigo, I have to have faith in Jesus. He is like my instruments. Hw doesn’t lie and can be trusted to steer me out of the storm, if I just trust him and believe.

I just don’t see how any pilot cannot be a believer. We all have learned to operate in a high level of faith in our instruments. All we have to do is transfer that ability to have faith over to the most loving and powerful One. He will never fail. He can be trusted. He is good and in a good mood. I gladly serve Him and I have the utmost faith that he will lead me out of all storms. Shoot, look at what He has led me through in the past year. So, if you are in vertigo, trust your instruments. Turn to the one who really is your true North, your guiding light. Allow Him to guide you safely into port. He is able, and He wants to be with you.